An analysis of the meanings of pre-eclampsia for pregnant and postpartum women and health professionals in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

Abstract

Objective: To understand the meanings of pre-eclampsia for pregnant and postpartum women and health-care professionals.

Design: a word-association test and semi-structured interviews.

Setting: A maternity hospital located in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil that serves pregnant and postpartum women considered to be at high risk.

Participants: 51 Pregnant women, 10 postpartum women and 87 health-care professionals completed a word-association test; 18 pregnant women, two postpartum women and 20 health-care professionals for the interviews.

Measurements and findings: Thematic categories based on the word-association test and the interviews were created to help the data analysis. χ(2) test was used to compare the categories raised by both groups in the word-association test to determine the association between the frequencies of these categories. The meanings of pre-eclampsia to pregnant and postpartum women were fear, risk, care and lack of information. To the health-care professionals, the meanings were care, fear, risk, high blood pressure, oedema and proteinuria. The frequencies of the categories 'fear', 'care' and 'risk' were statistically different (χ(2) = 31.84, 14.5, 38.19, respectively; df = 2, p < 0.001) between the group of pregnant and postpartum women and the group of health-care professionals. For the first group, the most significant meanings were fear and risk, compared with care for the second group. The analysis of the interviews confirmed and deepened the results of the word-association test, and also demonstrated that the pregnant and postpartum women had no information about pre-eclampsia.

Key conclusions and implications for practice: There is a gap between how women and health professionals view their experiences of pre-eclampsia. A warm welcome to the health-care facility, with clear explanations about the disease and the procedures to be performed during the visits and hospitalisation would be important aspects for the physical and mental well-being of pregnant and postpartum women.